inner self

With the internet, a lot of possibilities can be attained. I am specifically talking about online shopping in this post. As said earlier, I am quite serious about getting a saxophone after putting it off for so long. In the Malaysian retail shops, I have very few choices regarding the brands of alto saxophones that I’m looking for. What people are suggesting for me to get as a beginner is a Yamaha Yas-23, student model, which costs about RM 3890. That is a lot of money. And since I don’t have that much, circumstances have me scout around in cyber space- just to see what ebay has to offer.

Now in ebay, you can get tonnes of information and products, the straining part now is to filter which are the worthy buys. Unfortunately, Malaysian ebay takde saxophone, so I was forced to divert to the international market. The first one that caught my eye was a China-made model but branded under an Australian brand. A Fine Pro Series Vanguard Alto Sax by Largo Australia. Chinese made saxophone? I think I’ve gotten quite some reviews in the past about these makes, in retail shops as well. So, the best way to find out more was to key in the model into the internet and scout for reviews about this particular model. Results? It was quite acceptable, as in the sound and playability of it. A few minor flaws, but nothing you can’t live by at that price (RM 14xx). I decided to scout more and deeper, for other brands, possibly.

The good thing about forums and reviews is you get a whole load of comments and suggestions from people who have played it, or people who asked very good questions. From there, I got a link onto an article about ultra-cheap horns. I thought it was going to be a negative report since it had such a negative vibe to its title. But this person who wrote and own the site was making an overview on his opinions about these horns. In my opinion, he seems unbias enough. The more I read on his site, the more I feel his opinions and reviews are genuine. And this is where I stumbled on my current favourite potential horn: Walstein Phosphor Bronze Alto Sax. He gave such a good review that I almost bought it. There’s only one dealer in UK selling it, and it’s about GBP 300, equivalent to about RM 19xx.

I’m not going to go into details about the reviews and prices, you can click on the links above and check it out. I’m quite vowed over by this particular Walstein model. Okay, it’s China made, but he has tried it and find that it plays well for that asking price- at times better than some student horns, I think it’s a worthy buy for a starter like me. I reasoned, for someone who has no concrete knowledge and skill about playing one ( my achievement by far has been a few notes on the jazz band tenor sax) and may be just playing for the fun of it, better to start off with a simple, cheaper model. If I’m really into it, then let’s think about upgrades then. It was the same for me when I learned the piano. Back then when I was about 5, I couldn’t tell an old piano from a new by playing, moreover a Kawai from a Yamaha. As the years progressed, I learned to tell the texture, touch, sound difference with the various pianos I managed to lay my hands on. In time, I knew what kind of tone I liked, which kind of touch I favoured ( Always, solid piano better than electronice ones for me), and about 10 years ago, my parents got us siblings a piano, and I loved the sound of the Kawai upright grand. So, it’s the same for any other instrument. Start of with a less ideal one ( if you’re lucky you might end up with a gem at first try), hone your skills, find your niche, then go find your perfect sound with your perfect instrument. Now, when I say perfect, I mean it not in a generalized manner. Perfection is in the eyes/ears/hands of the beholder. I would say, you will have to find your instrument, there is only a few rare ones that will fit perfectly with you. Perfection can not be achieved by just constantly finding for a perfect piece of instrument, it’s about seasoning as well. Meaning, building a bond with the instrument, hone it, play it enough so that it will just fit and mould to your liking. Ah… my own seasoned piano… Too bad I can’t spend much more time with my piano at home. There is so much excitement in playing a particularly favourite instrument of yours. It’s like a car, you know you can take it to greater speeds if you push it in the right direction, if you train it. That’s it for me with the piano, the sound can be enhanced and suited to my liking. So, I hope it’s the same for my potential saxophone.

Coming back to internet shopping. I wish Malaysia had more avenues for these kinda shopping. In just a few clicks, the net has revealed to me so many overseas shops having their goods sold through the net, excluding amazon.com and ebay.com. Unfortunately, they only ship within the US. Darn! The prices are so much cheaper as you can sometimes get discounts and stuff. The options out there are enough to drive me nuts.

Alright, enough about me ranting. Now to show you my future (if possible) baby:

Walstein Phosphor-Bronze Alto Sax

Nice, eh?

Music lovers, you would understand the sentiments I feel about instruments.

Before attending a Vaisakhi Night party organized by Nat’s parents, I was clueless about such a celebration (ignorant bum). Correct me if I’m wrong, but this was what I found out about the occasion from a friend:

Vaisakhi is a Sikh celebration of the new year. According to Wikipedia, it’s an ancient harvest festival, marking the new solar year and new harvest season. A most significant event in the Sikh calendar. Here’s a link to Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaisakhi

All thanks and congrats go to Nat’s parents for making this such a happening event and for inviting Azhan, Ujean and me to it! We had a perfect blast, having yummy food and dancing to real thumping music! For the first time, I’ve been invited to such a party. And I can say, for the first few times, I have been invited to a celebration of other cultures/races. tsk..tsk, not so muhibbah after all. Speaking of muhibbah, our table was the most paling fusion. We had Nat (em…Pakistani/etc), Azhan (Malay), Ujean (Chinese), Nat’s friend from her dad’s workplace (not sure) and me (Chinese). But what the heck, we are not into racial divides or who owns the majority in the table, alah, kira sebagai Malaysian, we happy di lar. Religion wise…hmmm… lagi the confusing.

Okay, to food. It was a fusion of Indian *correct me if I’m wrong* and Chinese. I love the *fake* abalone dish. Wasn’t really eating ’cause was listening to these 2 good performers from KL- Guru and partner. We were asking Nat how her dad got such great performers, and slip of tongue, Ujean commented: “Some Punjabi Club is it?” That had us laughing. Well, according to Nat, there are some great “Punjabi clubs” in KL. Those two were dishing song after song of Bollywood *again, correct me if I’m wrong* & Bhangra rhythm. Can’t understand lar, but just go along with the flow. The music was damn loud, but still the PA system managed to hold it on its own without breaking. Could hardly hear what were talking over the table. I thought Chinese dinners were loud with their unbelievable loud karaoke sessions, this was way more than that. And of course, whatever the MC said, which was Nat’s dad, we couldn’t understand, gotta have Nat as translator. So, we ran into some understanding difficulty when Nat had to pee.

There was a lucky draw as well…and lots of impromptu dancing. I gotta give it to them man, the crowd just loved the entertainment. Dancing away, drunk or not. Haha! They sure are heavy drinkers, most of the tables I passed by had whisky and other liquors. While the adults were inside, some of us decided to head out and just lepak at a protruding platform. We had ice-kacang and just chatted about rectal examinations to corruption and Pulau Aman. Some of us had on pencil-thin heels and had to de-slipper to get onto the platform without tripping over some planks. We saw some crabs and fishing activities. Almost wanted to get the fishing kit from the car and start fishing immediately, but my vanity stopped me- didn’t wanna dirty my swanky nice, funky pants. And silvery slithery funky tie. Btw, credit goes to me for Ujean’s hairdo. Some self promotion- I can style hair. And pretty good at it, judging by the many compliments I/Ujean received from her various hairstyles.

The party just got started with the dance floor opening at about 10 something. Woohoo! Party was supposed to be from 7pm-1am. Lala! We were all so in the mood to thump it out on the dance floor. We had a great time together and swaying to the music. Made some nice acquaintances, although I have problems remembering their names proper. Oh ya, we had fun doing this weird guy’s dance move we saw the other time. And all sorts of other moves. No words can actually describe the fun we had. The rhythm and music was just awesome! I think I burned all the calories I gained during the dinner.

Pictures coming up later! Or you can see them on Facebook.

FYI, we (Ujean, Azhan, me) are now permanent party residences for Nat’s parties! Woohoo!

For me, it wasn’t about the awkwardness of being in a party of different race/culture. Important was the company, and I had the best of companies last night. Thanks guys! Love you guys lots! Already miss partying with you guys!

My bags are packing,

I’m unsure to go.  Half of me wanna stay, but staying wields me nth i can chase after at this point of my life. going beyond the horizon, i have choices of new explorations.  and it’s tempting.  but yes, going back means abiding by rules, losing some form of freedom. 

missing nights of just hanging out with friends. watching late night movies. crashing people’s place. sitting out at hostel balcony talking about life. basically, hanging out late.

why? partly because, its unsafe outside at night. because im a girl. because others know whats best & safe. because its also unsafe in the day.

production work, here i come, throwing myself at you. gaining life, experience and money. slaving for a better future? the adrenalin of production pushes me, despite the weariness. crazy weariness that knows no time nor day. satisfaction comes when you know you slave for something you love. like me.

i need to reanalyze why i love theatre. cause i think i lost it somewhere among the 3 years i have been studying it. i saw a glimmer of my love on an unexpected night- school drama done by non-theatre students, out there to have fun, take a message through- without the conventions. ah, convention kills. education makes us stupider. we are so confined by the boundaries of our supposedly well-earned knowledge that we forget how to explore and learn. we study for the sake of grades, yes, even in theatre. we churn out all the theories, make ourselves pedestalled critics of the art- but we forget, i forget- why in the first place i chose theatre. why i love theatre. therefore, i come to the conclusion that nothing on earth is meant just for the fun of it, there’s work and pain. there’s the possibility that i might be so engrossed in its principles and workings that i forget the fun in it.

let 13 march be a reminder,etched deeply into me- the night i question again why the heck am i in theatre.

in hope that if ever i forget again, 13 march will be the silver lining at the end of the tunnel. 13/3/08

Since I was hooked onto Kenny G’s album during my aunt’s wedding more than 10 years ago, the occasional nagging for me to pick up an alto saxophone has been persistently bugging me till now.

It’s an expensive instrument. Next to the piano, this is my next favourite instrument. I love the sound, texture and the richness of its tone. Ah…musical beauty enhanced in a sleek, shiny piece of wind-pipe.

Been wanting to save (it cost about RM 3k above), but never got around it. Uni life and its cost got in the way. But I did manage to try out my skills on a tenor sax. The first moments I managed to wrangle a sound or two on the sax, i was ecstatic, no matter how horrendous it sounded.

Now that I finish uni, and have to look for a job, will I still have the discipline to save and get a sax? Should make this my number one priority.

Care to buy me one, anyone?

6 May update: The Yamaha basic alto sax costs RM 3980. *hint hint*

I’ve always known that cats are less vulgar than dogs because they value their privacy. Dogs, you can see them poop anywhere- middle of the road, gardens, near your tyre, pavements…etc. While cats on the other hand prefers someplace secluded like behind the bush- somewhere unseen.

My knowledge of that came to a crash upon seeing a cat at one of the hostel, doing its business- in front of the hostel office…wait, wait…on its ‘welcome’ mat. Looks like the mat is put to good use huh?

Unfortunately, no one stepped on it as even though it was the same colour as the wording on the mat.

Dear friends of my blog, below is an attached appeal of donation for my final year project with my other coursemates. Hope to raise some funds from friends and people who are passionate for the development of the performing arts. Thank you!  

Donation for final year project 

Dear family and friends,

My course mates and I will be staging a performance entitled “In Transit” for our final year graduating performance. It is a comedy staged as an experimental performance combining theatre and visual propaganda. Details of the performance are as follow: -

            Date   : 1 & 2 March 2008

            Time  : 8.30pm – 10.30pm

            Venue: Panggung Sasaran, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.

As this is a student project, we are expected to raise our own funds, manage, and direct the whole performance. For this performance, our budget has come up to about RM4000.00 for building of sets, purchasing props and costumes, hiring of crew and other expenses.

Therefore, we would like to appeal to you to kindly assist us financially either by donating to us in cash or sponsoring our logistics or food and beverage.

This project will be a key stepping stone for us (graduating students) to step into the theatre scene after we graduate. Thus, your support is crucial to make this performance a success.

To donate or to sponsor, please contact our production assistant, U-jean (016-4939580) or at ujeantology@gmail.com. We appreciate any amount that you can offer.

Thank you for supporting amateur Malaysian theatre.

Regards,

Kevin Ch’ng (Technical Director)

Michelle Yip (Director)

Prisca Florence Wong (Actor)

the craziness of hecticness can hardly be described.

in control and yet… not in control

waiting for march to come and pass

Back in Penang, working like crazy for another few months, then I’m done with uni. Can’t believe how fast time flies. As cliche as it might sound, I really thought that it was only a year ago that I enrolled in it, and it was only a few months back that I had tons of experience in various fields, met a lot of interesting, quirky and lasting people that I’m proud to call them my friends. Some closer than I could possibly imagine.

Just have a few more things to do here, pack up, look for new horizons to conquer. Of course there is a sense of reluctance to leave, putting down the many things I’ve achieved in my stint here. Who can resist the lures of Penang- food, people, weather, island-living, the sun, the tourist attractions, the events, the festivities. The list goes on.

People ask me, if I’m so  in love with Penang, why leave? I feel I cannot function my best here in my current capacity, yet. I need to go out and get my ideas and experience elsewhere, with hope that I can bring it back here to benefit this little island close to heart.  And so, from here, where next? Beats me. It’s all about a life journey, ain’t it? So, I’m just gonna plan well, but not too cautious. Life is about taking risks, if not, where’s the fun?

I can’t decide whether I prefer going back to Penang and work my ass off for production or stay in KL, enjoy holiday and friends. Either way, I’m happy and dreading.

I’m approaching the end of my course- after 3 years- of learning and exposure. I love Penang, for its vibrancy, the street performances, the festivities. And of course, the independence. Coming back KL, will be a different story. The scene here is different, less community- in a way, less kampungish, if you understand what I’m trying to say. And I will have curfews, because KL is such an unsafe place to be out.

I’m not sure whether I can adapt to KL and its lifestyle. I love the options it has to offer, but with that, I have to take it with utmost responsibility. Trepidation, insecurities… sigh…the whole bundle of anxiety that comes with moving into a new old place.